Technology Fails to Deliver Happiness

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Impact of technology
Missing happiness in Technology
Conclusion
References

Introduction

For many years, various technological advancements have been achieved throughout the world, and some of them have changed the manner in which people interact, work, and access information. Even as the world gets engulfed with the information era, many people have welcomed it with optimism looking forward to greater technological developments.

While this is the case, information revolution has equally exposed the world to an array of challenges, some of which are permanent and costly. If you look around today, you will hardly miss to notice the negative impact of technology, ranging from our environment to human behavior.

In other words, technology has failed to deliver happiness to humanity even though it is highly applauded for its positive impact. This essay explores different ways through which our happiness has been compromised by technology in recent years.

Impact of technology

In this generation, the role of technology is so evident that even young people are not left behind. Nevertheless, tremendous developments have been achieved in the way in which information is disseminated from one place to another. The manner in which information is conveyed from one person to the other has changed compared to how previous generations viewed communication (Sutcliffe, 2003).

In most cases, communication was tedious because of the long distances and urgency of the information being conveyed. For instance, information was carried by messengers who could spend several days, weeks or months before delivery.

This obviously had a host of disadvantages as it was ineffective in cases of emergencies, long distance, and unreliable in the event the messengers failed to deliver the information due to some reasons.

With the advancements in information technology and the massive use of the internet, communication has become quite effective as people can connect when they are in different countries around the world, at any time. This allows instant sharing of information, regardless of the nature of the message being delivered (Sutcliffe, 2003).

Through emails and other forms of e-communication, one can reach a large number of people in a few seconds, thus saving time and avoiding inconveniences, which were highly associated with ancient methods of communication.

The internet has also become a source of happiness, through the social media, which has proved to be the best medium of connecting people globally. In recent years, Facebook and Twitter have emerged as the leading social networks, with millions of subscribes around the world.

Through these sites, people are able to share events, photos, music, and emotions in many ways (Underwood, 2009). With Skype, it is possible to make video calls from a computer and communicate with other people, thus sending and receiving information in an effective way.

Business owners and companies have also found these channels to be effective in advertising goods and services, because they reach many people who are connected through the internet.

On the other hand, entertainment has advanced in several ways as artistes and producers can market their songs and movies, targeting customers from different countries. A good example of the site that is well known in entertainment world is YouTube, which has a wide collection of entertainment, accessed freely through the internet.

The computer age has also revolutionized the way of storing and managing personal or corporate information. Computers have emerged as the best gadgets for the storage and retrieval of data and information in offices and at home. This does not only facilitate the storage, but also enhances the management and organization of bulky data, thus augmenting information security (Underwood, 2009).

Additionally, processing of this information has been facilitated by different programs, which address the needs of various users in the market today. Other advancements exist in the transport industry, where faster and effective means of transport have been developed over the years.

In medicine, recent developments in nanotechnology and X-ray have become crucial in dealing with killer diseases like cancer, which threatened human life before.

Missing happiness in Technology

While technology has played a crucial role in promoting development in the world, it has equally affected people negatively especially in the information age. From environmental safety to moral values, technology has adversely impacted the world, taking away the happiness of people in different ways (Winston & Edelbach, 2011).

With regard to improved communication methods, the society has compromised its traditional emphasis on meetings and social gatherings, which played a major role in social bonding. Instead of a manager holding meetings with his or her employees, a single message can be forwarded to everyone without necessarily, in a few seconds.

In the same case, some married couples prefer chatting and skyping instead of spending time with their partners. This equally applies to the manner in which parents are relating with their children online, thus creating a social gap in the society (Winston & Edelbach, 2011).

While modern methods of communication may seem to be more convenient, they have significantly weakened the social bond and physical interactions, which are equally important in ones life.

In addition, electronic storage of data and information has become dangerous and costly, with advancement in technology. This is mainly based on information security risks, which have been witnessed in recent years.

Other information technology experts have maliciously attacked some of the systems used in data base management, leading to devastating effects (Harrington, 2011). In real sense, a discussion on technological advancements cannot be complete without the mention of cybercrime, which has become endemic around the world.

Due to these advancements, criminals are able to access private information and manipulate it for their own interests. Commonly targeted bodies include financial firms like banks and government organizations. Hacking further leads to identity theft, where individuals have been coned through duplication of personal information in banks.

Another problem, which is closely associated with hacking, is cyber-terrorism, where criminal gangs coordinate their activities through the internet, including the spread of propaganda, issuing of instructions and execution of commands (Harrington, 2011). This has made it hard for security agents to track such groups because of their global network, which has been enhanced by technology.

Bullying has also increased in the society, especially among students in schools. Most of the children who get bullied suffer from emotional stress, since they are sometimes belittled or angered by bullies, who are generally found online. For this reasons, parents are forced to spend a lot of time with their children, guiding them on how to handle and avoid online bullies (Psyhogyios, Vasileios & Gerostergiou, 2008).

Besides the internet, other technological advancements have equally impacted the society negatively, causing pain and regrets. A good example is the introduction and massive use of television. With these gadgets almost present in every home in the United States and other parts of the world, it is doubtless that the negative effects of television have affected a wide scope of the world population.

Firstly, addiction to television-watching is a major cause of obesity among children (Boynton, 2011). This is primarily because it encourages a sedentary lifestyle, limiting the movement of children and their engagement in physical activities during their leisure time.

In extreme cases, some children find it hard to attend to their assignments because of television programs. Additionally, video games have negative impact in the society, since they promote violence among children. Most children who spend a lot of their time watching these games develop violent traits, and may end up becoming bullies and social misfits in the society (Boynton, 2011).

Current communication technology has also been blamed for moral decadence in the society with regard to sex and gender representation in the media. While the media plays a major role in reaching more customers than any other channel, some advertisers have negatively exploited it.

In most adverts involving human beings, women are commonly represented negatively as sex objects (Pitman, 2008). Oftentimes, most adverts carry images of women, with the element of nudity, thus promoting moral decadence in the society.

Additionally, some adverts made through the media promote drug abuse, say, alcohol and tobacco products. Lastly, the internet has promoted pornography, where users can freely access some sites and feed their mind on illicit information (Pitman, 2008).

Conclusion

From this analysis, it is evident that technology has positively impacted the world. Nevertheless, the world continues to suffer in different ways as a result of these advancements. Similarly, most people believe that technology has failed to deliver happiness to the society.

References

Boynton, P. (2011). Sex, Health, Media. Onscenity. Web.

Harrington, J. (2011). Technology and Society. Massachusetts: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.

Pitman, S. (2008). The impact of media technologies on child development and wellbeing. Oz Child. Web.

Psyhogyios, J., Vasileios, C., & Gerostergiou, K. (2008). Positive and Negative Aspects of New Technologies In Lifelong Education. WSEAS. Web.

Sutcliffe, R. (2003). The Fourth Civilization Technology Society and Ethics. Scribd. Web.

Underwood, J. (2009). The impact of digital technology. Becta. Web.

Winston, M., & Edelbach, R. (2011). Society, ethics, and technology. Connecticut: Cengage Learning.

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